5 Hacks to Earn Travel Points While You Shop
Everyone shops at one point or the other; some are shopaholics, some would instead not go shopping, and some are just okay with shopping. They get that it’s necessary.
Traveling Hacking
Do you know that you can travel anywhere without spending money and even lodge in good hotels? All you need to do is rack up travel points that you can use to plan vacations once the pandemic has ended. Racking up traveling points takes time, but lucky for you, there’s plenty of time to do just that due to this pandemic. This is known as traveling hacking.
Traveling hacking uses miles and points to get you the best deals on flights and hotel stays, you pay close to nothing, and sometimes, it’s even free. You do these by racking up traveling points and later redeeming them, one of the ways by which you earn travel points is by shopping. I can hear shopaholics say, “yay,” you earn while doing what you love, and earning freebies while at it is great, isn’t it? And for people who don’t like going shopping but would prefer to order online, do you know you can also earn points just by ordering the things you need online?
Recommended for You: What are Travel Miles and How to use it properly?
Hacks to earn travel points while you shop
Let’s get right into how you can earn travel points
By using shopping portals
Both banks and US airlines have online shopping portals. All you need to do is log in to their website and click on their shopping website. Many people prefer ordering online to actual shopping, which is the same as ordering, except that you earn travel points or miles while shopping. Since it’s something you would buy anyway, this is a fantastic hack to earn travel points while shopping. Although using some of these shopping portals has conditions, like compulsory membership and the like, the pros are more than the cons.
Use your credit cards
Using credit cards is more profitable than spending cash. Every dollar spent via the credit card counts. Use your travel reward credit card, and you earn points simply by paying for things with your credit card. Credit card signup bonuses are the easiest and fastest ways to make travel points. There are many credit cards, so they’re always trying to attract customers, and offering signup bonuses is one of the ways they do this as long as you spend a specified amount of money within a limited time. That doesn’t mean you should spend money buying things you don’t need. Spend smartly, not more. You can ensure that every purchase you make, even to the littlest one, goes to your credit card
Don’t exchange your points for cashback
As lucrative as that might sound, do not do it. It is pretty tempting to exchange those points for something like a prepaid gift card, but I’m telling you, it’s a waste of points. It is not exactly the best value. Redeeming for travel is the most lucrative return.
Study loyalty program terms for extra points
This might sound quite boring to you, but studying and understanding these programs are a way to get more points. And there’s a plus, these loyalty programs not only work for but every other thing you can think of, like dining, car rentals, your mobile provider when you pay for internet service, even buying and selling of properties, and more. You have to sign up for these programs, and you earn points just for signing up. You earn as you spend, as you eat, and even extra points from some that let you level up just by spending and earning points.
Pay your rent and mortgage
Several travel cards require a specific amount to be spent before doling out travel points. At times, these specific minimum requirements might be quite a large amount of money, so despite not wanting to pay fees, if you signed up for a card to earn points, you might as well use them so you can get the points, right? Most of these cards require a fee to pay for mortgage and rent, but these fees are little and worth it in the long run
Conclusion
You’ve been wanting to go on that trip but have been unable to due to finances. These hacks will help you earn for that trip while buying your daily necessities, although you don’t need to go to the extreme, such as buying things you don’t need just to earn travel points.
Josh Dudick
Josh is the owner and lead writer at Daily Wisely. His career has taken him from finance to blogging, and now shares his insights with readers of Daily Wisely.
Josh's work and authoritative advice have appeared in major publications like Nasdaq, Forbes, The Sun, Yahoo! Finance, CBS News, Fortune, The Street, MSN Money, and Go Banking Rates. Josh has over 15 years of experience on Wall Street, and currently shares his financial expertise in investing, wealth management, markets, taxes, real estate, and personal finance on his other website, Top Dollar Investor.
Josh graduated from Cornell University with a degree from the Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management at the SC Johnson College of Business.